Loose-leaf binder



Aug. 9,1927. 1,638,784

A. B. PLUSHKELL LoosE LEAF BINDER Filed Dec. 1o, 1923 Patented Aug,` 9, 1927.

PATENTE @WECE AUGUST B. PLUSHKELL, on LosANGiiLEs, CALIFORNM. s,

Loose-LEAF BINDER@ Application iled December 10, 1923. Serial No. 679,625.

This invention embraces improvements in I loose leaf bindersy and, while the loose ufacture; possessing all. the advantages of v Y a loose' leaf ring binder, .yet one which can ly, and as with my type ofbinder, one which be produced at a fraction of the cost yof most of those now in general use.

This binder has been designed primarily for use in binding blank bank checks in looser lleaf form, although of couise, it need not be limited to this particular field. However, the advantage and convenience of having blank checks boundin loose leaf forum-has prompted me to perfect this idea'. The advantages l have in mind are the 'convenience of a binder wherein the checks will always lie flat; and also the arrangement whereby the check stubs may always be easily examinable and their backs used for memoranda and suitable entries, which is common practice.

It is well known that banks make a practice of furnishing theirv depositors with Yblank check books free of charge. There-y fore,the necessity of providing them cheapi will lcostno moreVoi' even leSSVthanFthe usual WPG 0f permanent binder. Also,

v.when books having two or more blank 4checks to the' page are furnished, the ldispositor usually has his name and address print-il ed` on'each check, which is also done by the vbanky free of charge. This practice prohib'- itssuoh books from being bound upiin large quantities, to cheapen the Vcost/, althoughfthe usual form of blank checks are generally` rangementonly'injso far asone of .thecovers l printed in quantity, and left unbound until j when the leaves'are'attached. 55

afterthe imprinting of the name is nished. l in each case.' v

-Under these circumstances I ihave providedpa type of ring binder in which theblankl checksinay be secured, after the imprinting. is completed, witha; minimum of timeand ezfpense.A Also-the several parts of my bind-v er maybe produced in quantityall ready for immediate assembly and ready for use,.

The characteristics Aof my improvement'l vinclude a-leaf seciiijiiigmember which can be specific form, and in which,

V"the basegand' f passed through the perforations in athick pad of -loose leaves Vatonetime,'and-a single: locking arrangement which* prevents accidental dislodginent 'ori removal i 'of indi'- vidual leaves, yet from which they `can be removed if desired. ,Also the ring portion may be made `substantiall'y circularto facillitate opening and `closing andfturnin'g' of leaves which otherwise would bind in case of straight lsided or U-shapedloops` v The meritsl and advantages of my-improvement will' be moreV fully setforth in the following speciiic'at-ion, referencefbeing made therein to the accompanying drawings, wherein I have illustrated the preferred Figure l is afragmentary. top; plan view 'i of an open binder, showing the 'manner in whic'h'the invention is appliedyf Fig. 2 isfan enlaiged`ffrag'meiitary end elevation of the/binder when closed;v

Fig@ Slis anenlargedsectional `view taken i as indicated byjthe" line 3 3 of'Fi'g. l;

Fig. 4; is a further enlarged fragmentaryv yperspective view showing my improved securing member assembled Fig. 5 is a perspective View ofthefring securing member and lockingfbar before.

being assembled and secured tothe b as'ef f Essentiallyfmy invention comprisesa base' I Amember 10 to which a plurality'V ofl thjsecur# ing members 11 are removably attached to looselg .bind a plurality of individual leaves 12.A rdinafrily, thenbase. lOwillfornfiftheV back cover of'abindercoveringlfaving also -f back ,portion 14,{softhiscoveringmay be lopened and closed 'in thef'iisual manner.' In

some cases,` however, it may Vonly .be desirable This fcover, pcfirtionfy is important in my ar-l pr'ovides a base upon :whichI the' securin'gv covers'lv and l0, respectively, and vback por tion' 14, the, securing `in eiiibers willvbe "mountedI so that when the covers' are linA lav top c'over 13 secured to by] afy flekible I' closed relation as shown inFi'oxiQtheflexible or connecting back portion rest. against'thelinnerends,as illustrated'.

' Any :number of the securingmeinbersfll,

cient, While in other cases two or more may be preferred, depending entirely upon the vuse to Vwhich the .binder is put. The binder coveringor base 110, maybe constructed of )any suitable material usually used for such Work, such as pasteboard or other binding materials. The usual vtype of pasteboard provides a suitable base and is amply strong" `.for the purpose. y l The .securing members llare composed of .two portions "Whieh l will hereinafter refer ,Y V-to .as the ring portion-:V and thelocking Qmeinberl. ".Both of .these inay be stamped -lout .of sheet metal or formed of the usual 'type of ribbon metal, bent. to the desired y.conguration.- Thering portion 15 lis bent in -the man-nerillustrated tov fornithe ring l 'f jbelowthe plane of the securing'portion 18 if with itsV inner edge .spaced a short 'dis-V tance from the shoulder-21'vforined bythe V`.juncture of the vring 17 With the securing portion `18. Ihegend '19 is ,hat fora short '.distan`ce`,being adapted to rest upon'the base V10; extending substantially tangential to y Y lthe ring 17 and slightly ofsetrelative thereto to forni .ai shoulder 22.*'- vArpertures 23 V are :punched kin* the securing portion 18 "through which the ends of a staple 2l-1nay `be `extended and .bentover,v for lsecuring it 'to the base, asandin the marmer illustrated. The Ylooking ineinber'l is formed Of i'ib vloon metal ofl substantially ythe sanieV .Width as theinernber 15 `and ordinarily of a length equal `to ythe distance` between the shoulder -22 land the v.end `.25 'fof the securing, portion 18. vThis;locking meinberor `bgarfal'so .Ilias V y vwith the'baseand making-the .ring 17 more apertures 26 punched and spaced to register :with apertures 23,"fin ,thesec'uring' vportion- 18, and-'through Whie'h the ends of the staple Y,24: extend to rigidly join-these two ineinbers vtegether vand to .the base ,10.v

upon" the base,; the. lock-ingfinernber 16 is Sf'interno@difate the base and the securing inein- "jbefr 18,'*With its free end `27. ex'tending across theV gap 'betweenthe edge 2Q fand shoulder Inest-ing"` ,uponfthe portion. 19 ands, abutting .Continuation of. .the maggiore@ 17's@ slipping off 3the-free endlof the ring 17 when -V inthe ,position illustrated in Fig. Thisis essential on; account of the [necessity of Qthatftheleaves 12v Will not catchthereon',

when thrownover. lto. fthe different. ypositions ,illustrated :in rigs.; 2 .and e. )The locking member 16 prevents' the loose leaves 12 froin '1.6 f are mounted yend 19l inay be 'easily and quickly passed through the perforations 29 in a lthick pad ofthe leaves 12, at one time. By'providing this -securing.member-so that it inay be readily 4passed through the perforations 29 in a"thick `pad of the leaves 12, at one time, a greatV saving in time and expense is effec-ted in "assen'ibling and iinishing the? binden Also,`,by foriningthe locking ineinber or .bar 16 and'l the 'ring' portion r1.5A separately a great saving in the cost ofvrnanufacture of these Lin'enibers ,iseecte'ch 'in addition to providing va convenient arrangement lfor assembling.` n

'l/Vh'ile under ordinary `circumstances it Will be preferred to forni the members Y15 and 16 of a flat ribbon metal, the construction need not necessarily .be limited to this.

fHoWeVer, thev flat nietal ring affords the greatest bearing surface. and is not so liable to tear out the apertures I29pas vare rings ordinarily forrnedv of Wire. Aiso, 'in -iny preferred forni, i' find it desirable to forni the ring 17substantially Circular; that is, the Whole' as nearlycircular kas possible vin order to facilitate Athrowingthe loose leaves froin the positionsho-Wn inFig. v2 to that y shown Vin Fig. 8 and Vice `versa, vand t0 V'eliminate binding ofthe leaves as commonly occurs When these; rings are formed 4with straight sides or 'U-sha-ped.`

, The backing. ineniberlG, ldue toV this rn'eans of attachment, not onlyV closes vthe gapk in the bottoni. of the ring. 17,' to vforni ya substantial continuation thereof, but it also holds itsfree lend 19 dowfnin close -contact With the face of the base 10.v The mein# f ber 16 is forined straight softhat when atrtae'hed, as'sliowii, it is slightly sprung, ,there v.

by." forcibly-'holding the rend 19 in contact rigid relatiie thereto.l

Irn `nianu'facturing fthe binder,`thejbasesor Y i cover portions landa-the inem-bers 15 Aand -16' are made up. in large Iquantities to` econoilo 'mize oncost and are no-t assembled Auntil :the loose ,."leaues l12 'are printed, as *des-ired. '.To #assemble they binder, a com'parativelyl ,thic'lrip'ad :ofthe loose tleaves [112, fare'jpil'ed With their `perforations 29 in Aregister,*after 'which the freeend 19, of the'rri'einber f1f`5,

is slipped through these registering pen forations, 'the locking ineinbe-rllris then- -ad-x justed to `place 'byrresting'l its-end 27 upon .the vportion 1.9 and ibringingits opposite.

.end up against the under faceof the securv f 'ing portion 18 `Withits perforations 26 in register With the perforationsg23. Apen.

18, respectively, -afterrwhich these'free'endsw are bent over, yas shown'in Figs.' 3 and 4,"

rigidly seuring 'the wvliole to4 the -base V10.

If it should be desired to remove an of' the leaves 12, the free ends of the stap e 24 may be bent upwardly and the securing member removed from the base, after which the locking member 16 may be quickly removed and any of the leavesthen removed from the free end 19 of the ring 17. However, it is not contemplated that it will ordinarily bel desired to remove any of the leaves 12 afterl they are once bound together.

While I have herein .shown and described the preferredspeciic embodiment of my in-v vention, I nevertheless reserve the rrightrto i ture as will come within the make such changes or modifications lin strucscope Vof the appended claims.

What I claim is: f

1. In a device of the character described, Y

the combination with a base, lofa leaf-retaining member comprising a ring portion and means to secure 1t to the base, there being a gap in the bottom of the ring portion adjacent the base, and a member adapted to be secured in placeto close said Ua b In adevice of the character described, the combination with a base, of a leaf-retaining member comprising a ring portion and a securingvportion, therebeing a gap in the ring portionat its bottom, and a mem-` ber adapted to bel secured between said se` curing portion and the base and to extend across and close said gap.

3. In a device of the character described, v

the combination with` a base, of a leaf-retaining member comprising a ring portion and means to secure it to the base, therebeing an opening into the ring portion where- Y by it may be passed through registering per-' i 40 forations in a thick pad of leaves, and separate means attachable to its securing means to close said opening, to prevent removal o il the leaves; et. In a device of the character described, the combination with a base, of a leaf-re taining member comprising a ring portionA and a securing portion, said member` being formed by bendingone end ofthe securing portion upwardly in the formof a ring,

leaving .a gap in its Ibottom betweenits free Vend'and its junction with the securing por-` tion, and a member adapted to be secured between said securing portion and the base` and to extend across the gap and overle the free end of the ring portion.

eol

andto extendV across the gap andoverlie the free vend of the ring portion, the free end of -y Y the ring portion being provided with .a flat Y* portionl Vto rest lagainst the base and a In witness that Iv claim the foregoing Il have hereunto subscribed my name this 111th day of September, 1923.` Y

AUGUST B. PLUSHKELL.

Vshoulder againstwhich the end of the locking member abuts. 

